About GEN in Oman

GEN began working in Oman in 2011 when it partnered with Startup Weekend to host events during Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW). The entrepreneurial community responded enthusiastically, planting the seeds for more than a decade of activity aimed at showing Omanis that building a company is a viable career path. In 2012, Zajil Oasis joined GEN in organizing a national campaign that drew hundreds of participants across a dozen events. GEN's engagement deepened in 2013 when the National Business Centre (NBC)—an initiative of the Public Establishment for Industrial Estates, known as Madayn—joined the coalition. NBC soon became GEN’s lead partner for coordinating the annual campaign, which it anchored at Knowledge Oasis Muscat—a technology park on the edge of the capital hosting multinational firms and universities.

As GEN and NBC formalized the campaign, they worked to build out a program of practical support. In November 2014, NBC ran an Entrepreneurs Boot Camp in partnership with Jordan's Oasis 500, selecting promising concepts from a cohort of aspiring founders. NBC's director general at the time, Malak Al Shaibani, described the initiative as vital preparation for the earliest stages of launching a startup. Pairing the GEW campaign with recurring platforms such as Reyooq—a monthly networking event connecting Omani entrepreneurs with mentors and experts—GEN and NBC drew in new partners, including the Al Rafd Fund, Bank Muscat, and the SAS Centre.

GEW in Oman has carried a distinct local character. The 2018 edition ran under the theme “Failure Taught Me” and featured Omani founders sharing stories of the challenges they faced alongside a startup exhibition. A specialized clinic offered free consultations throughout the week. Mulkie Al Hashmi, NBC's director of media and marketing, noted that GEW had been a catalyst for developing a new ecosystem of founder support and a bedrock foundation for vital, year-round programming.

GEN and NBC continued convening the country's public and private institutions for enterprise development, leading to new collaborations and partnerships. In line with NBC’s mandate, this work resulted in greater business development support, training, mentoring, market access, and incubation facilities for promising Omani founders. As the annual campaign continued to grow, attracting new partners including colleges, funds, and banks, Oman's policy institutions engaged more deeply with GEN. For example, the Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises Development (ASMED)—the government body responsible for the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector—joined GEN's Startup Nations community, extending the relationship into year-round policy collaboration.

In addition, Ali bin Masoud al Sunaidy participated in the early campaign when he served as Oman’s Minister of Commerce and Industry. GEN’s engagement with the government has since become institutional: GEN recognized H.E. Halima bint Rashid al-Zari, the chairperson of ASMED, for her significant leadership within GEN's Startup Nations network. Oman also participated in GEN’s Global Enterprise Registration (GER) program, which, in partnership with United Nations Trade and Development (UNCTAD), assesses a country's ease of business registration. Oman scored full marks on the index maintained by the two organizations.

GEN connects Omani founders to its global programs. Through the Entrepreneurship World Cup (EWC)—the global pitch competition GEN launched in 2019 offering training, mentorship, and a share of $1 million in prizes—Oman-based startups have reached the international Top 100. iLab Marine, founded by Waleed Al Maawali to bring data and automation to aquaculture, was a finalist in 2022, and Pinch, led by Fahmi Al Maawali, followed as a finalist in 2025. Several Omani founders have also joined the GEN Starters Club, an invitation-only community drawn from GEN programs. Omani members include Al Maawali of iLab Marine, Ahmed Al Marjeby of Nashid Enterprises, Azzan Al Kindi of Rihal, and Anwaar AlHinaai of AirGo.

A parallel thread of GEN's Omani work has been research. The University of Nizwa joined the Global Entrepreneurship Research Network (GERN), GEN's community of academic institutions studying entrepreneurial ecosystems, linking Omani scholarship on the country's startups and support network to a worldwide body of comparable research.

GEN's relationships in Oman reach across the country's public and private institutions. NBC and its parent, Madayn, sit at the center, alongside ASMED (formerly the Public Authority for SME Development), the University of Nizwa, and GEW partners including the Al Rafd Fund, Bank Muscat, the Fund for Development of Youth Projects, and the SAS Centre. Basing GEW at Knowledge Oasis Muscat has given the campaign a year-round physical location from which to provide Omani founders with support and connections.

As Oman advances its national effort to build a more diversified, knowledge-based economy, GEN's role has grown into a year-round platform linking Omani founders to its global network. GEN's continuing goal in the Sultanate remains the one that has guided its work since its early campaigns at Knowledge Oasis Muscat: connecting the country's entrepreneurs with the knowledge, networks, capital, and policy support they need to scale.